Off Night?

“America is the only nation in history which miraculously has gone directly from barbarism to degeneration without the usual interval of civilization.” > Georges Clemenceau

In fact, Barbarism and Degeneration were standing just a metre or so apart at separate podiums last night.

 

Degeneration, by its very nature, hardly ever makes a comeback. 

 

I wonder what world those who say Biden had an "off night" are living in. June 27, 2024 is less the issue than say June 27, 2028. Can anyone seriously see him in the White House and functioning then? 

 

Harry Kane can have an off night. But if Southgate drops him and picks Gary Lineker as England's talismanic target man, any of the likely performance issues would need to be interpreted as more than just a blip in form.

The New York Times has now asked Biden to step aside, in the name of public service. That's a request that cannot simply be ignored and historians certainly won't ignore it if Biden does. 

 

Much will now depend on how pre-prepared the Democratic elites (and Jill Biden, though for perhaps contrasting reasons) were for last night’s unfortunate performance of their near-anointed candidate. 

 

Some of the likely usurpers may have kept up a facade of loyalty through the primaries based on a self preserving, powder-dehumidifying rationale. 

 

Even so, there are good reasons for thinking the party will bungle this moment. They picked Biden four years ago as much for internal as ‘external’ reasons, and these may yet hamper their scope for decisive action now.

 

And if Biden has seemingly forgotten how his own son died, how great a grasp on reality can he be presumed to have right now? 

The Democrats appear to be carrying on like someone who has spotted the bite marks on their forearm, but rather than quickly dispensing with the limb, have found some fine, upstanding reasons to procrastinate.

 

Like, “maybe I won't turn into a zombie after all.”

But in truth there’s more to this than a decisive chop with the machete.

 

The Party heavyweights have to act like Tories and conduct a palace coup against their ruler. And then, perhaps counter-intuitively, not act like Tories in how they go about picking his replacement. 

 

Ironically, they may need to go against their instincts and perhaps also their convictions, eschewing a middle of the road, unity pick. 

 

If this election can be saved (and, by extension, American democracy and self-respect), they'll probably have to slot their own scorched earth personality onto the ballot.

 

They no longer have the luxury of a candidate who will defeat Barbarism just by standing there. 

 

Against this evil they may now need something more energising than a consensus idea of decency.